A years-long feud between two Aspen neighbors will no longer play out in Pitkin County Court. The Knutson and Wilson families agreed yesterday to allow the mutual restraining orders they have against one another to expire.
This armistice comes after a flare-up in their bitter 15-year relationship last winter caused a series of alleged tit-for-tat strikes on one another. They included allegations of, in part: Urinating on and scratching of cars, intentional causing of sewage flood, loud shoveling of snow early in the morning, breaking windows, attempted bludgeoning (with a snow shovel), trying to run over neighbors with a car, fist-shaking, bird-flipping and cursing.
The Williams Way neighbors were expected to go to trial to determine whether Bruce Knutson’s restraining order against Doug Wilson was valid. Wilson contended it was not.
“Let’s take this thing to trial, let the chips fall where they may and let the truth shine through,” said the Wilsons’ lawyer, Peter Rachesky.
Rachesky made this point moments after Judge Erin Fernandez-Ely denied his request to withdraw as the Wilsons’ attorney.
Rachesky declined to go into details in open court, but did say his relationship with Doug Wilson had deteriorated to the point that he could not adequately represent him and his wife.
The sentiment echoed concerns raised by mediator Paul Kovach, who was assigned to the case but quit last year because he felt threatened by Wilson. (A second mediator quit and forfeited his fees in February.) Similar complaints were aired by a court clerk who issued a memo to Judge Fernandez-Ely in October, saying Wilson repeatedly called the courthouse yelling and using abusive language.
Rachesky is the second lawyer to handle the Wilsons’ case. They dismissed their original counsel last year after a court date was delayed.
The Knutsons’ lawyer, Mark S. Rubenstein, objected to Rachesky’s leaving the case, saying allowing Wilson to represent himself would produce courtroom chaos.
“I would like to avoid this turning into a circus,” he said.
As the parties began discussing trial details (Wilson said he would call 15 witnesses), Rachesky pointed out that the 120-day time limit on their mutual restraining orders had passed, and the orders were technically no longer valid.
The neighbors then agreed to allow the restraining orders — which prohibited them from coming within five yards of one another, and within two feet of one another’s property — to expire. Dismissing the case, Fernandez-Ely wished the neighbors — and their lawyers — good luck and peace.
“If something happens in the future,” she said, “that is the future.”
With no restraining orders or court appointments, the Battle of Williams Way might be calming down.
Or it might be heating up. After yesterday’s hearing, Doug and Bedrishah Wilson went straight to the district attorney’s office to attempt to file a complaint against Bruce Knutson. The alleged crime: Shuffling around their belongings in a communal junk shed they share with other neighbors.
andrew@aspendailynews.com